Worth The Effort
by animeangel665
Summary: Shikamaru wonders what's really worth the effort.ShikaxKiba.Some SasuNaru


-1Shikamaru hated anything that required movement. If it was more than breathing than he didn't want to do it. Not that he always got what he wanted. Such as when Kiba would pounce on him while he was watching the clouds. Kiba would straddle him and talk about some sort of nonsense for a while until Shikamaru would interrupt him. That part was okay with Shikamaru because he only had to talk, which is like breathing but with sound.

Kiba didn't like that. He didn't want Shikamaru to be lazy when he was with him. He hated it. Just like Shikamaru would complain on how women were to troublesome and that's the only reason he was with Kiba in the first place. He hated when he would talk like that. Like what they did was nothing. Like he was nothing. Shikamaru would always sense he's said the wrong thing and would, to everyone's amazement, raise himself on his elbows and kiss Kiba softly on the lips.

That was all Kiba needed. Usually it was just a make-out session in the park and maybe a feel of a little skin on skin, but nothing to much. Of course the animal in Kiba wanted more. If it were up to Kiba they would have sex all the time. They would never leave their bedrooms except for missions. But Kiba couldn't control the world and sometimes it would be weeks before they did it again. Kiba was faithful though. He wouldn't run to some other guy, or girl for that matter, just to get some sex. He loved Shikamaru to much to ever do that, and he wanted Shikamaru to admit his love for Kiba.

Shikamaru didn't want to put a commitment on their relationship. Why? Because he was scared. He was terrified that as soon as he put some form of effort into something it would explode in his face. He didn't want that. Kiba would tell him over and over how much he loved him and Shikamaru desperately wanted to believe those words.

That's probably what prompted him to go to those apartment and knock on his door. He wasn't really sure. All he knew was that one moment he'd been hanging out with Naruto and Sasuke and the next he was at Kiba's front door. No there was more. Sasuke and Naruto had gotten into an argument on the way home. It was something stupid of course, but Shikamaru hadn't been paying attention. There was a small yell and then Naruto was kissing Sasuke...Shikamaru didn't know how they got that way but they were really going at it, probably forgetting Shikamaru was there. And then Naruto said something Shikamaru was sure to never forget.

"_Am I worth it to you?"_

Shikamaru didn't know what "it" was, but it caused Sasuke to think for quite a while. So long in fact, that Shikamaru left before he answered. So now here he was, waiting patiently for Kiba to open the door.

"Shika. What are you doing here?" Kiba asked him with surprise. Shikamaru shrugged and asked if he could come in. Kiba nodded. They sat in silence on the couch for a moment before Shikamaru found the silence troublesome.

"Where's Akamaru?"

"Asleep." And Shikamaru felt stupid for asking, because at this time of night that's what any same person would be doing. Lacking for anything else to say he decided to state what he'd just seen.

"Sasuke and Naruto were kissing in the park."

"Really? I thought there was something going on between them. Sasuke has been hanging around Naruto a lot." Kiba said with a smirk.

"I think they forgot I was there." Shikamaru hated how lame he sounded.

"You were there too? Wow that must be cool, to be able to be with someone and not notice anyone else around you. To just forget that you were with anyone else because only that one person matters." Kiba said looking at Shikamaru thoughtfully. "We don't have that do we? Whenever we're in the park you always complain that people are around. I guess we just haven't reached that part in our relationship yet."

Shikamaru tuned out Kiba's babbling and thought bout what Naruto had said.

"_Am I worth it to you?"_

What if Kiba asked him that? What would he say? The fact that they weren't open about their relationship meant that...Shikamaru didn't find Kiba worth it? That wasn't right. Shikamaru thought the world of Kiba. His hate was his only fear.

"Are you listening?" Kiba asked, snapping Shikamaru out of his thoughts.

"No."

"I knew it. What were you thinking about? Jealous that Naruto got to Sasuke first?" Kiba asked with a laugh. Shikamaru glared as best he could at Kiba.

"I was thinking about us."

"Us?" Shikamaru took a breath.

"Is that really what you want? To only see one person for the rest of your life?" Shikamaru asked. Kiba looked surprised.

"Not really. I want to be able to see other people in my life, but I always want that person to be close enough that I can see them out of the corner of my eye." Kiba said, with a small blush, not really believing he'd said that. Shikamaru sighed. He was about to say something when that thought came back.

"_Am I worth it to you?"_

Was Kiba worth it? That's what he wanted to answer. If he couldn't be honest with himself he could never be honest with Kiba.

"Kiba I-"

"We should break up." Kiba interrupted.

"What?"

"I-um-well...What I just said and-"

"And I'm not it?" Shikamaru finished. Kiba gave him a "what-the-hell-are-you-on" look and shook his head.

"I don't think I'm the person for you. I mean, you like the clouds and sky stuff, and I can't fly. I don't know how I can keep your attention. I'm not sure if it's worth the pain" Kiba explained, looking down while ringing his shirt. Shikamaru stared at him for a moment.

"_Am I worth it to you?"_

"Pain?" Shikamaru asked, not really understanding.

"When you stop liking me. It'll be painful."

"_Am I worth it to you?"_

"It" was pain. Couple's went through ups and down. The up's were always wonderful, but it was the downs that broke couples apart of brought them closer together. You had to decide whether the downs were worth it. Whether that person was worth any pain they might bring. If they were worth the effort.

Shikamaru just stared at Kiba as that realization came to him. The dog-nin was still fidgeting around. Shikamaru sighed and cupped his hand around Kiba's cheek, raising his head up to look at him.

"I think you're worth it. I think you're worth everything."

Kiba's eyes widened. And then he smiled.

"If I'm worth it then you're more than worth it."

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The next morning, as Kiba and Shikamaru walked down the street to meet Sakura for some thing she was doing for Sasuke, the saw a orange-clad blonde staring at a window display. Shikamaru was about to go comfort Naruto when Sasuke appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the blonde. Naruto's face lit up and as soon as he was on the ground he flung himself at Sasuke. At that moment Sasuke noticed Shikamaru staring and pointed it out to Naruto. Naruto turned and waved with a big smile on his face.

"Sakura canceled her meeting. It seems she's given up on Sasuke." Naruto yelled at them with a grin.

Shikamaru allowed himself a small smile. Kiba grabbed his hand.

"We don't have to go. Want to do something else?" Kiba asked, bringing Shikamaru's hand to his lips.

"Sure."

"Rea-"

"Let's go watch the clouds." Kiba sighed and nodded.

"Sure." Shikamaru saw the dejection in Kiba's face.

"Afterwards we can go back to your place and do something else...something more stimulating." Shikamaru said as if he just thought of it.

"I thought you didn't like to do anything stimulating?" Kiba asked as they walked to the park hand in hand, ignoring the remarks of fangirls and onlookers. They both thought they heard Sakura and Ino crying in the distance

"You're worth it." Shikamaru said with a shrug. Kiba smiled

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**A Naruto Fanfic**

**Thank you for reading **

**I Do Not own Naruto**

**Just this idea.**

**A/N-There isn't enough love for these two in the world. My first Naruto fanfic that is surprisingly not mainly SasuNaru. I never cease to amaze myself. I'm not to sure on either Kiba's or Shikamaru's personalities so they're probably both OOC but, hopefully, not to much. Thank you for reading and please review if you can. It makes me smile.**


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